Have I The Right

Lyrics

Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley

Have I the right to hold you, You know I've always told you,
that we must never ever part,

Have I the right to kiss you, You know I'll always miss you,
I've loved you from the very start,

Come right back, I just can't bear it,
I've got some love and I long to share it,
Come right back I'll show my love is strong,

Have I the right to touch you, If I could you'd see how much you,
send those shivers down my spine,

Have I the right to thrill you, You know I'm waiting till you,
Give me the right to make you mine,

Come right back, I just can't bear it,
I've got some love and I long to share it,
Come right back I'll show my love is strong, Oh yeah, alright,

Guitar Solo

Have I the right to hold you, You know I've always told you,
That we must never ever part, oh no no no,

Have I the right to kiss you, You know I've always missed you,
I've loved you from the very start,

Come right back, I just can't bear it,
I've got some love and I long to share it,
Come right back I'll show my love is strong, oh yeah,
yeah
Come right back, I just can't bear it,
I've got some love and I long to share it,
Come right back right back where you belong, oh yeah,
you belong, oh yeah,
you belong.

Song Facts etc.

Jimmy Page

It has been claimed on "songfacts" and possibly in other places as well that Jimmy Pge played session guitar on this song. This is however untrue.
I understand that Jimmy Page did do session work for Joe Meek but this band was a real performing group who had come from playing regular gigs. Every one was a genuine musician, and they had perfected a sound which Martin Murray had worked hard to achieve.
But here is what Martin Murray himself said about this question just in case anybody needed further clarification."I have heard this story many times before, the answer is NO. By the way, the same claim has been made by some other very famous session guys, I can't remember the names until I hear them again, as it was a long time ago. The only Musos to play on Have I The Right was the HONEYCOMBS."

The hardest part of the recording was getting the stomping on the stairs. It was difficult to get sufficient monitors on the stairwell and the stamping kept getting out of sync with the rest of the recording. They did take after take risking eviction by Joe Meek's landlady but finally got it in the bag.

The Honeycombs contract

When Pye released Have I The right on 19th June 1964 it took a little while to penetrate the market. In fact it got to number 1 on 27th August, 9 weeks later. At some point during this period Pye executives realised that the contract they had with the band was null and void and they arranged a meeting to renegotiate, hoping to get more or less the same deal as before.
Martin Murray was however a savvy young man and took along his father's lawyer to the meeting. With their debut single now racing inevitably towards the number 1 spot, he had the strongest negotiating position imaginable, and was able to secure the best percentage of any band of the era. Considerably better, even, than the Beatles!

Another claim about this song is that Denis D'Ell had difficulty hitting the high notes when performing it live.
Joe Meek had an unusual recording technique, making the band play the song slowly and then speeding it p which put the key one or two tones higher. But Martin Murray assures me that not only could Denis sing quite high enough when he wanted to but that the band always performed the song live in the same key they recorded it in and not the key that it seems to be on the record. So this is simply nonsense.

German Version

The Honeycombs recorded another version in German which matched the English language version in the German charts, both singles reaching number 21.
You can see details of this version here.

An album credited to The Howard Blaikley Orchestra on the Rim label ZS 03 features orchestral versions of twelve Howard and Blaikley tracks, including Have I The Right, side 1 track 6.

Dead End Kids were next with their version in 1977 CBS 4972 and on the album Breakout CBS 82254. The single reached number 6 in the UK. This version is slightly cheesy 70s boy band fare. Similar to the Bay City Rollers and having just listened to it on youtube I would rather not listen to it again. A CD version of the album is available on Amazon in case anyone is a glutton for punishment. Breakout on CD from Amazon

The Dead Kennedys did a live cover in 1979. It is track thirteen on a CD released in 2004 called Live At The Deaf Club. Their version is frenetic and wild. Quite a bit faster than the speeded up Joe Meek version and less melodic.
Have I the Right (Dead Kennedys)from Amazon

Lee Prentiss perpetrated a version in 1982 on Unidisc UNI-1099 in Canada and Dureco MS49 in the Netherlands. Accordingto Discogs it is an Electronic Hi-NRG version which is enough to convince me not to even try and find a copy. Reference at Discogs

A La Carte an all girl group of mainly English girls but based in Germany released an album called "Rockin' Oldies" Coconut - 205 473 in 1983. "Have I The Right" was track 2. The act also released a single version of "Do Wah Diddy". I must thank a reader "Daniel Toth" for pointing this out via email.

Sova Nova is credited with a version in 1987 on Ariola 608 894-213 this was a 12 inch maxi single. Done in a disco style it might go down well at Butlins with the mums and dads and the kids all joining in. I will probably go to the bar and meet you later OK?

More recently in 2010, Vampire Weekend covered the song. Their version is quite laid back and jazzy with tinkling piano and a kind of relaxed jam. Actually it is quite enjoyable, and it certainly seems as if they had a good time making the recording.
This is probably available on iTunes as it appears on an iTunes session E.P.

Another 2010 cover is by Italian band Blastwaves which features none other than Peter Pye on vocals, and guest guitarist, Willie Nile. You can hear that version on the bands website HERE - Have I The Right, Blastwaves

N.B. There is a song of the same title by Popcorn and the Mohawks, but is a completely different song.
Similarly there is one written by Eddy Grant for the Equals, recorded in 1972 and released on President PT 370

Lastly there is a song of this name by Hans Ter Berg on the Silenz label SICD 269508-3 but I can't find any further information so I don't even know if it is a different song or not. If anybody can help me with more info I would welcome that.

There appear to be a number of album tracks with the same name from a variety of obscure artists. I suspect I could spend a very long time indeed dredging through each one for very little benefit.

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